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Wednesday, 20 February 2013

Sir Denis Mahon's £100m art collection left to nation

A £100m
collection of paintings built up by art historian Sir Denis Mahon has been left
to the nation - on condition that art lovers can see them for free.

This was on condition that no admission charge was
made and they were not sold.

That condition has been extended as part of the
bequest by Sir Denis, who died aged 100 in 2011.

The previous year, he celebrated his 100th birthday
in the National Gallery, which will now keep 25 pieces from his collection.

Other institutions which will benefit from keeping
the paintings for free are: the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh; the
Ashmolean in Oxford; Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery; the Fitzwilliam Museum
in Cambridge; and Temple Newsam House in Leeds.

Sir Denis, who was grandson of the Marquess of Sligo
and was born an heir of the Guinness Mahon banking fortune, built up the
collection over decades from the 1930s onwards, reportedly never spending more
than £2,000 on an individual work of art.

His expertise of Italian art was such that in 1957 he
was awarded the Medal for Benemeriti della Cultura by the Italian president for
services to criticism and history of Italian art.

Sir Denis made the arrangement for his bequest via
the Art Fund charity, with specific instructions on where the works should be
displayed.

He also left the Art Fund a £1m cash bequest.
Throughout his life, he had often made donations to support the charity which
campaigns for wider public access to art.

The charity's director Stephen Deuchar said:
"Sir Denis Mahon was a life-long supporter of the Art Fund and shared our
fundamental commitment to widening free public access to art.

"His vision as an art collector was
extraordinary, as was his determination that his collection should ultimately
be on public display.

"It is an enormous honour for the Art Fund to
have been entrusted with his private collection and to oversee its transfer
into the permanent collections of these museums and galleries across the UK."